The Crab at this time are in one of the best positions they have been in, both politically and physically in centuries. The Wall is no longer under constant siege, and there is something of a time of piece. With the help of the Yasuki and the Scorpion, they are maintaining both the Scorpion Wall and the Crab wall, and growing nicely, since the end of the Destroyer war.

The crane are the weakest they have been in centuries, largely due to the protracted economic war with the Mantis, which they have been losing. This has costed them a great deal of their political and economic sway, and while they are still the cultural center of rokugan, and the largest rice producer in Rokugan formal, their limited holdings in the colonies and restricted trade abilities. If the Crane do not change things soon, they will begin to be a marginalized faction. The only thing protecting them is their holding peace with the Lion and long established ties with the Unicorn.

The Dragon arguably came out of the Destroyer War the strongest. Their lands were untouched by plague, and the War of Dark Fire is now a distant memory. As the Guardains and Stewards of the Fledling Spider clan, they find themselves the closest allies and enemies of this new and growing faction. Given their strong imperial ties, and the growing support of the kitsuki method, much is occuring to place power in the hands of the dragon.

The mighty lion find themselves weak, even 21 after the destroyer war, a mere shadow of their former glory. The mass seppuku’s in protest to the ascension of the spider cost the Lion a generation they desperately needed, and the disparity in ages of many of the lion is easily noticeable. They find themselves stretched thin, and still holding on to the ideas of old glories.

Currently the strongest and fastest growing clans (beating out even the spider), the mantis are the wealthiest and most influential economic power in rokugan. Recruiting the ranks of the Ishkari warriors from the remains of the Irovy Kingdom (with rumors they will form them into their own family), the fast trade route to the colonies, and the largest swath of territorial land, the Mantis are one of the dominate clans at this time.

The Pheonix find themselves in a time of weakness, given their recent loss in the War of the Twins to the Scorpion Clan, who has extracted several political concessions as the victor, to include political favors, tolls, tributes, and wealth. They find their influence and call within the empire waning, given the Dragon’s rise in responsibility over the dragon, and the purge of Tainted from the empire now over a decade past.

The Scorpion find themselves both strong and weak at this time. Still recovering from the scorched earth policy from the Destroy War near 20 years past, and the near destruction of the Shosuro family from that war, they continue to rebuild. The Victory over the Phoenix has provide the political clout and momentum, along with their new ties with the Colonies, to but them back on the political upswing. The are using this time to establish themselves further, and use their new found allies, to exploit the Crane and Mantis political/economic conflict, in particular hurting the crane, there long political nemesis.

Spider:
Clan Champ: Daigotsu Kanpeki
Goju: The Shadow Dragon (The Goju are not publicly recognized family of the spider)
Ninube: The Shadow Dragon (The Ninube are not a publicly recognized family of the spider)
Susumu: Susumu Kuroko
Order of the Spider: Tetsuo
Order of Venom: Yamazaki
Sezume: Suzume Ryosuke (The head of the former Sparrow clan. The sparrow in my timeline, were successfully infiltrated and consumed by the Spider Clan, after the Destroyer War. They serve as another public face of the Spider clan in the Empire, next to the Susumu.)

The most loathed and yet ever growing clan, their sway with the imperials and the ever growing colonies, yet makes them a power to not be trifled with. They are generally reviled or at least tolerated through out most of the Empire, though many a Crane, Phoenix, or Lion will still drop threats of a duel, or leverage whatever they can, to cause harm to the youngest of the great clans, in rokugan proper.

The Unicorn endure, with the most constant and only road to the new Colonies, able to traverse the colonial road year around, unlike the mantis, who have to avoid the fall weather, lest the lose convoys to the the storms. The lose of the Horiuchi family, along with the toll of the Plague, still rings home with many, but if any clan in Rokugan can suffer these hardships, it is the Unicorn.